When it comes to the rivalry between the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, those who live in the commonwealth generally pick a side.
There is one Kentucky-based sports tech startup, though, that is sitting right on the proverbial fence of the state’s two largest fan bases — and for good reason.
Although RaveOn Sports is based in Lexington, and many of its employees are UK alumni, Brittany Harris and her team are supporting the Cardinals and Wildcats in equal measure.
“I grew up as a UK fan, but as a business owner ... I’m agnostic," Harris told me. "I want every single person’s fandom represented."
RaveOn Sports, founded in 2021 by Harris and three others, is an app that works by enhancing sports fan experiences through a variety of features such as chat boards, polls and live-streaming fan experiences conducted by sports influencers (many of whom are former athletes) — and its first two clients are the NIL (name, image and likeness) collectives of the commonwealth’s two biggest universities.
Harris, who also serves as RaveOn’s chief marketing officer, said her company reached a deal with UK’s The 15 Club back in August and started its partnership with UofL’s 502 Circle three weeks ago.
She also said she is in talks with the NIL collectives of approximately 10 other Division I schools, many with equally passionate fan bases. That's as research showed how much “college sports audience love [athletes] more than your pro audience,” Harris said. She hopes to have those new schools signed by next football season.
“Anthony Davis is super popular, but once he left the [NBA’s New Orleans] Pelicans, they were done with him. Guess who was never done with him? UK fans,” said Harris, referring to the star center who led the Wildcats to the 2012 national title and now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to Harris, RaveOn, which was named one of our 2023 Startups to Watch back in January, automatically creates chat rooms for every game of football and men's basketball. Chat rooms for women's basketball games are scheduled to start in January. In addition, live events have only been done with football and basketball up to this point, but there are plans to add more sports next month.
A loaded lineup
Currently, both UofL and UK fans can follow along with football season, by not only taking part in the conversation during the games (including chat sessions with former players who are paid for their time), but also listening to a midweek interview with current players, conducted by former players, on RaveOn's platform.
This week, for example, the Lexington side of the operation has former Wildcats quarterback Stephen Johnson speaking with current UK defensive back Jordan Lovett. The Louisville chat featured Cardinals defensive back Cam’Ron Kelly and offensive lineman Willie Tyler.
Basketball fans can expect a lot of familiar faces from both schools, including former Wildcats Willie Cauley-Stein, Tyler Ulis, Darius Miller, Doron Lamb, Marquis Teague and Marcus Lee. The list of former Cardinals standouts includes Chane Behanen and Kevin Ware
With just the two partnerships, RaveOn already has approximately 11,000 users — a number that is growing at an average rate of 7% month over month — who spend an average of 136 consecutive minutes on the app.
This interaction allows for several advertising opportunities on the app, which is RaveOn's primary revenue stream. At the moment, the startup has not charged the collectives any fees to use its platform, opting instead to do a complete revenue share model to increase the amount of schools. In turn, the collectives are responsible for selling the ad sponsorships.
RaveOn’s fully remote team of six full-time employees are mainly located in the Lexington area. Harris added that the company is looking to add to its headcount by four to six employees, beginning in January.
RaveOn recently took part in the Israel-based Hype Sports Innovation accelerator, which gave the company international exposure. As a result, it will be starting a pilot program with AS Monaco, a top-flight soccer team that plays in France’s Ligue 1.
The company is in the middle of raising $1 million in a pre-seed round, of which it has reached 80% of that goal. One of its main investors is Keyhorse Capital, as well as John Pappas, an angel investor based out of Lexington.
RaveOn Sports was initially bootstrapped mainly by silent co-founder, Dr. Harry Lockstat, an orthopedic surgeon who got the collective ball rolling for the company’s interface after being frustrated by a critical call in a game of his favorite NFL team — and not being able to “vent appropriately,” Harris said.
The rest of RaveOn’s leadership team is composed of James Clark, president; and Rick Baker, chief technology officer (and Harris’ father).
Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, Russ Smith was mentioned as one of the former University of Louisville basketball players who had entered a partnership with RaveOn Sports. Smith has since confirmed that he has no affiliation with the company.
